#Maurice de Gheest

The HK$18.5 million Longines Hong Kong Sprint has fast become a global sprint championship race, with horses lining up regularly from many of racing's leading jurisdictions to determine which horse is quickest. Originally run over the straight 1000m course as a Listed race, Hong Kong legend Fairy King Prawn won the first edition in 1999. The…

Knicks Go, seen winning the Grade I Pegasus World Cup in January, is favorite for Saturday's Grade I Whitney at Saratoga. Photo courtesy of Gulfstream Park Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Rich purses drew some top foreign talent for the Saratoga Derby and Oaks on Saturday and Sunday on the upstate New York turf to highlight a big weekend of Thoroughbred…

A busy weekend of racing in Ireland is highlighted by a quintet of Breeders' Cup Challenge Series races. Among the prospective starters are Mishriff, Saffron Beach, and Highfield Princess, a trio of Group 1 winners whose connections have mentioned the Breeders' Cup among their possible year-end targets. Let's dive in and explore the upcoming…

World class sprinter Artorius is likely to have his first jumpout this time in later this month. Picture: Alan Crowhurst-Getty Images Trainers Anthony and Sam Freedman have identified the perfect distance for Artorius's latest bid for a second Group 1 win in the autumn. Artorius won the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes as a two-year-old in February 2021…

It is nearly ten years since Frankel put up the best performance in Timeform's history when he beat Excelebration by 11 lengths in the 2012 Queen Anne Stakes, earning a rating of 147. Unsurprisingly, no horse since has come close to reaching that lofty figure. In fact, only a dozen other horses have reached the 140 benchmark since Timeform was…

CRYSTAL PALACE star James Tomkins has spoken of his'Jamie Vardy' wonderhorse - who could net him £185000 in one day. Tomkins is co-owner of crack sprinter Rohaan, a three-year-old who has shot up the ratings. The Selhurst Park ace has already scooped a share of £116000 from just three of the horse's races. But he could land £185000 should Rohaan…

Go Bears Go: classy sprinter was a winner in Ireland last time Dave Loughnane on Monday played down any fears about the health of his string and reckons Go Bears Go has a fine chance of underlining that in the Betfair Sprint Cup (3.30) at Haydock on Saturday. Loughnane has saddled 30 British Flat winners this year and 14 came in April and March,…

Highfield Princess and Jason Hart claim the Prix Maurice de Gheest on Sunday Victory in the Group 1 Arc Prix Maurice de Gheest was secured with the brilliant execution of not one but two plans. The first piece of foresight was for trainer John Quinn to give Highfield Princess a short break after running an excellent sixth in the Platinum Jubilee…

John and Kitty Fairley, owners of Highfield Princess, receive the Yorkshire Horse of the Year Award from Eleanor Tomlinson Highfield Princess, who won Group 1s in three different countries in the space of 35 days across August and September, was crowned the Yorkshire Horse of the Year at the Go Racing In Yorkshire Awards on Thursday. The John…

Evidence of where the balance of power lies between the top three-year-old sprinters and their more experienced elders is still fairly scant. But to judge by the market for this Group 1 sprint, the racing jury has already returned its verdict. Platinum Jubilee Stakes hero Naval Crown heads most lists and Artorius, the horse who has rattled home to…

Jim Wilson, one of only three amateur jockeys to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup, has died after a long battle with cancer at the age of 72. Wilson partnered Peter Easterby-trained Little Owl, which he owned jointly with his brother Robin, to win the 1981 Gold Cup. But Wilson's massive association with jump racing's biggest meeting extended way beyond…

The John Quinn-trained Highfield Princess looks terrific each-way value in Friday's Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes. The unbeaten Royal Aclaim is favourite with the bookies Sonnyboyliston ridden by Ben Coen winning the 2021 Sky Bet Ebor Handicap Headline act Baaeed kickstarts Ebor week by trying to emulate fellow great Frankel in the Juddmonte…

1pt win Sacred in Breeders' Cup Mile at 25/1 (Sky Bet, Unibet) There have been 11 three-year-old winners of the Breeders' Cup Mile since its inaugural running in 1984, nine of which were trained in Europe. Four of those nine were fillies - namely Miesque, Ridgewood Pearl, Six Perfections and Goldikova - and in total (US and Euro-trained) the race…

There was little doubt that Highfield Princess was the sprinter who achieved the highest profile during the season, thanks mainly to completing a Group 1 hat-trick in three countries in the space of not much more than a month in the Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville, the Nunthorpe at York (replay below) and the Flying Five at the Curragh. The…

The Queen's runner King's Lynn was third in the Wokingham (5.00pm). Dream Of Dreams won the feature Diamond Jubilee Stakes as Ryan Moore celebrated a treble The Queen just missed out on a winner as she attended Royal Ascot's final day. Making her first appearance at the big meeting this week, the reigning monarch arrived to a round of applause from…

Day Two of the Irish Champions Weekend features two more Breeders' Cup Challenge'Win and You're In' race, when Nunthorpe Stakes heroine Highfield Princess heads a big field of 19 as she heads for as G1 hat-trick in the Flying Five. Sponsored by Dubai's Al Basti Equiworld, the sprint is the first of four successive G1 races at the Curragh on…

At a neutral venue, you would fancy the highly likeable and adaptable Highfield Princess as a more likely winner than Golden Pal. That is no definitive comment on their abilities, it is simply that she has built her record under a wider spread of conditions, from steadily run 6½f races like the Maurice de Gheest to a soundly run Nunthorpe. This…

The Breeders' Cup World Championships, the ultimate handicapping challenge for horseplayers, heads to Keeneland this year, with Saturday's schedule featuring nine championship races, including the $4 million Breeders' Cup Turf and the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic. Flightline, unbeaten in five starts and the favorite in the Breeders' Cup…

Perfect Power (near) holds on well in the Commonwealth Cup Even Christophe Soumillon could not comprehend the way Perfect Power quickened in the closing stages to power clear in the Commonwealth Cup. He looked an unlikely winner at halfway after breaking from stall one and an even unlikelier one when several lengths behind with two furlongs to…

The three-year-old returns to the scene of his impressive victory, in the Wokingham Stakes at Royal Ascot, for next week's six-furlong Group One. Since that epic handicap performance, Rohaan has not looked out of place in the July Cup, Prix Maurice de Gheest and the Flying Five Stakes, despite not making the frame - and Evans is convinced the…

Adam Houghton profiles the six highest-rated European horses set to be in action at the 2022 Breeders' Cup at Keeneland. 1= Mishriff (Timeform rating 127) - Breeders' Cup Turf Mishriff was a decisive winner of the Prix du Jockey Club as a three-year-old, but it was his globetrotting exploits when he reappeared early the following year which really…

The Group One Sun Chariot Stakes headlines another excellent afternoon of action on ITV Racing this Saturday. Along with three races from Newmarket, we'll head to Ascot for four valuable contests and hop over to Redcar for the Two Year Old Trophy. While there are several talented, race-fit fillies around her in the market, I'll take a chance on the…

A total of 19 horses were left in Haydock's Betfair Sprint Cup (3.30) at the six-day stage on Monday with Nunthorpe winner Highfield Princess the most notable absentee. With John Quinn's star filly not going for a hat-trick of Group 1 wins, the £350000 sprint which highlights Saturday's action looks wide open. We assess the key contenders. .…

Harry Allwood has a quartet of fancies chalked up at double-figure odds on QIPCO British Champions Day, live on Racing TV this Saturday. General odds: 25-1. On the form of his latest effort, there is no way Garrus should be 25-1, and that makes him a bet in what looks a wide-open contest on paper. The six-year-old finished a length behind Highfield…

Who will rise to the challenge at Ascot on Saturday? Andy Stephens shares his best bets and suggests potentially underestimated runners to keep in mind. 1.25 Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup (Group 2) THE TIP: ELDAR ELDAROV at a general 5-2 No three-year-old has won this race since it was first run in 2011 but that masks the fact that…

The top four in the betting for the Darley July Cup say it all. We have last year's winner, Oxted, a five-year-old, bidding to become the first repeat victor of the race since Right Boy in 1959. Then there's Starman, a four-year-old, lightly-raced and one from one this season after an impressive Group 2 win at York at the Dante meeting in…

The Verdict: Angus McNae studies last year's Long Distance Cup Alan King may wait for the Prix Royal-Oak at ParisLongchamp should the Ascot ground not turn in favour of Trueshan. The crack stayer needs plenty of cut underfoot if he is to run in the Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup at the weekend, for which he is the general 7-4…

The Richard Fahey-trained three-year-old was an impressive winner of the Commonwealth Cup on his last visit to Ascot in June. That success at the Royal meeting was the Ardad colt's third victory at Group One level, adding to his previous top-level wins as a two-year-old in the Prix Morny and Middle Park Stakes. Though he has subsequently…

The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes has produced any number of top-class winners over the years, but the 2011 renewal, at the inaugural British Champions Day at Ascot, was won by a horse like no other in Frankel, who put up another scintillating performance to extend his winning sequence to nine on his final three-year-old start. The eight-strong field…

Emaraaty Ana: beat Starman in last year's Sprint Cup at Haydock The Betfair Sprint Cup (3.30 Haydock) is the standout feature over the weekend and we have looked back over a number of factors to see who may win Saturday's Group 1 showdown. In the last ten years, Twilight Son (2015) has been the only winner rated lower than 110. He was rated 104…

The first Sunday of October in Paris always serves up a feast of Breeders' Cup clues. The pi èce de r ésistance, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1), is historically the key race for the Turf (G1), even long before the "Win and You're In" (WAYI) provision. Since we've covered the leading Arc contenders in the "10 storylines to know" feature, let's…

Freddy Head: will retire at the end of the season Freddy Head, one of a select band of champion jockeys to make a real success of training, will hand in his licence at the end of the year. Head, who rode the multiple champion Miesque and guided the record-breaking career of Goldikova, has announced the decision to wind down having celebrated his…

Golden Pal won the Juvenile Turf Sprint at Keeneland two years ago and is unbeaten in three appearances on his home track, which once again stages the showpiece meeting in November. The four-year-old landed the Turf Sprint at Del Mar last season and is firmly on course to defend his crown - but is set to face a new and formidable…

Irish Champion Stakes, Leopardstown, Saturday 10 September Luxembourg had been only workmanlike when winning the Royal Whip Stakes by a neck at the Curragh last month, but, having met with a setback after finishing third in the 2000 Guineas, he was entitled to come on for that outing and he duly took a big step forward to win a strong edition of…

Emaraaty Ana's performance in last month's Nunthorpe Stakes was exactly what connections had hoped to see prior to his bid to land a second running of the Group 1 Betfair Sprint Cup. In finishing third to Highfield Princess at York, Emaraaty Ana produced more evidence that his early season lacklustre form was being left behind and he was coming…

With no outstanding performer in the domestic sprint division, this had the look of an open Sprint Cup, though in the end proved anything but, Minzaal blowing the race apart when taking over approaching the final furlong and recording a high-class effort that is backed up by the timefigure, even if it's not quite the track record performance…

A big field and a fierce pace looks on the cards for the Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock on Saturday and that can help Rohaan, a 9-1 chance with Betfred and Sky Bet, strike in the Group One feature. It's evident that the dual Wokingham winner is in his element when he can pounce late after being buried away in races run at end-to-end gallops over a…

If Accidental Agent does not manage to regain his Queen Anne Stakes crown, connections will no doubt be hoping his rival Mohaather lands the mile Group 1 instead. Accidental Agent is trained by Eve Johnson Houghton for her mother Gaie, who bred and has raced the six-year-old son of Delegator since he was a vendor buyback at just 8000gns at Book 2…

It has been a season to savour for the six year old gelding who continued his fine run when taking a drop back in trip in his stride in the Bet At racingtv.com Handicap (1m 6f), which doubled up as a Jockey Club Grassroots Stayers Series Qualifier. Hitting the front just outside the furlong pole, the 7/2 chance stuck to the task gamely under Robert…